It was one of those odd nights in Teneber where the weather outside the town didn't quite match up with that inside the town borders. Blanketing the forest floor was a shimmering layer of frost, a chill that didn't quite touch the residents in their comfortable bubble of spring time warmth. The weather wasn't odd to the normal residents of the town, however any outsider would be confused at the warmth of this particular night in January. The full moon watched over the world, a silent guardian breaking through the darkness to light the way for late travelers.

This particular night, however, the pathways were lined with decorative lanterns to ward off the darkness even further. Young children were running around at an hour they should have been sleeping, unattended by unworried parents. Tonight was the first night after the changing of the year, a festive time for the people of Teneber. No one could remember how this particular festival started, but for the first two nights following the start of the new year the town closed its borders and socialized through the night. Unfortunately for the teens of Tenenber, it also marked the last two days of their "winter" break, not that it mattered to any of them anyway. The smell of food filled the air, mingling with the laughter of the relaxed population. Beer vendors served teenagers and adults alike, spreading the cheer and high spirits to all willing to pay for them. With the clearing so bright, one would almost miss the giant mansion looming over the town. Perhaps that was the original reason for the Festival of Fortune, to drive the dark walls away with the lights of thousands of burning candles... But such stories were only fairy tails woven by the town's elderly.

Standing at the edge of the circle of light was a young woman with lightly tinted hair, seemingly dyed a soft pink to further accentuate the paleness of her eyes. The hazy blue watched passerby's casually, remaining unnoticed by those happened to walk past. The woman inhaled deeply, taking in the various scents of food, liquor and people alike. A shiver ran down her spine as excitement filled her veins, the old feelings of a brewing hunt returning after her decades away from Teneber. Licking her lips, the odd woman stepped from the shadows into the light filled street. The light revealed a unique outfit, elegant, but out of place even for the dated town. Clothed in a blouse-like dress that stopped mid-calf, the long sleeves bellowed out to ruffles around her slender wrists. The neck was tied off with a pink, satin bow garnished with a jewel that matched the color of her eyes. Her knee-high boots were heeled and laced up the front, somehow adding an even further illusion to elegance in the modern world. Despite its oddness, the outfit was quite simple and drew no more attention than her pink hair did as she walked slowly down the road.

The woman seemed to float through the crowd without drawing much attention aside from the occasional child staring at her in wonder. She let her nose guide her through the town, wandering for a while before latching on to a particular scent. Just recently a girl smelling strongly of mint had walked the path, leaving behind a mouth water scent. An irritating itch had been bothering the young woman's throat for days now, something that wouldn't go away with just anything. Picking up her pace only slightly, Ysabella started on her path to finding the person carrying mint gum in their pocket.

It didn't take very long for Ysabella to catch up, sidestepping into the shadows before reappearing on the path several feet ahead of her intended target. She turned her head slowly to study the blonde child, a young girl who still looked to be in high school. The smell of mint was so overpowering that Ysabella almost missed seeing the eye patch, a small detail that didn't bother the 'immortal' all that greatly. "What a shame to ruin such beauty." Ysabella's voice rang through the air like wind chimes, light but filled to the brim with superiority. Her Italian accent was audible but just barely, difficult to pick out if one wasn't familiar with it. Fixating her eyes on her prey, Ysabella smiled, ignoring the rest of the world around them. Stepping forward lightly, Ysabella closed the distance between them, her excitement under control but ever growing. "Does the broken beauty have a name? Or was that stolen along with your left eye?" Ysabella's own eyes flashed with a mischief, hoping to rile up the child. Nothing tasted better than blood hot with rage or fear.

It was the night of the festival, however the young redhead had remained in the solitude of her apartment flat. She hadn't had any plans, nor the need to actually go outside to socialize, so she stayed behind with the comfort of her... Rather large cats. She leaned back in her sofa, sighing as her legs sprawled out over the leather cushions. Shani held a ball of fluff in her arms, the large mass letting out an audible purr. Soon, the strange animal stood up and stretched, its emerald green eyes squinting as it hopped off of Shani and padded elsewhere.

"Bye, Big Kitty." She whispered, finally sitting up to glance over at the paper decorations that were hung by the towns residence outside of her balcony window. It was rather tempting, to go outside, then again... Shani could just sleep. It has been a long night of studying and going through a mid-life crisis... Slowly, she rose from her sofa and stared down at her pajamas, feeling a little lazy, and slightly disgusted with her recent actions of simply lazing about doing absolutely nothing.

"Should I go enjoy myself...?" The young woman asked, crouching in front of a white feline that was currently licking its hind legs. Patiently, Shani waited for a sign from her pet, and what she had received swayed her decision; The white cat had sneezed and walked away from her. The great deity has spoken, now she must go outside and enjoy the festival.

She tied her curly red hair back in a messy bun and put on a pair of white washed jeans. Shani then threw on a loose black sweater and slipped on a pair of flats. With her nightly look completed, she slung her purse over her shoulder and left the comfortable confinement of her home.

She had a faint smell of laundry detergent, yet the scent was masked with a load of cheap perfume she sprayed practically all over herself in order to pass off as socially acceptable.

As she walked down the street, she focused on the festivities, especially the teenagers that sauntered around, shouting gibberish and flaunting the alcoholic beverages they managed to get their grubby little hands on. The youth in this town was extra annoying, especially when they were shitfaced drunk.

The night was far from over, and with festivities like these, she doubted everyone would go to sleep when the sun rose. It was rather nice to be able to celebrate, even though at first Shani seemed to object to the idea of participating in town activities.

She went deep into town to settle down at a small bar, hopefully she would be able to get at least a small drink. It was a festival, and she was technically an adult. Not twenty-one, but still adult material.

Austin loved the festival, the lights and the sounds, it all added up to something wonderful even if it did mark the start of school again. He'd never had trouble with school, was always surrounded in willing participants for conversation and he got by. What mattered was that he got by. Well-liked and mostly pleasant, he tried to get along with everyone that he met even if they proved to be something of a pain. He'd met quite a few people who hadn't appreciated his warmth and enthusiasm and he'd always been sort of thrown off by them. He was a constant beam of sunlight, only outmatched by the brilliant smile that he often had to offer in the presence of the people he cared for. He found himself disinterested in many of the games, he'd always been sort of bad at carnival-type games and he didn't think his luck would change any time tonight. Scratching his jaw thoughtfully, he settled on one of the target games and eyed the target before throwing the ball.

The soft ding as the first one landed home was a confident boost, the second ding nearly made him jump and made him feel very good. The third ball soared right over the target and hit the ground with a soft thump. It made him and the woman working jump. He made a face and ran a hand through his messy pale blond hair, shrugging lightly at the woman and smiling sheepishly. He hadn't really expected to win, he had a tendency to lose his nerve right as he was getting towards the top. "I kind of suck at these things." a light laugh of the apologetic sort. "I used to suck at baseball. I'm much better at kicking than throwing."

This kind of overly honest behavior was normal of Austin and he waved off her offer of one of the small prizes. He wasn't really one to settle and he made a note to come by later tonight and give it another shot, there was no reason not to and maybe he'd actually win this time. Shaking his blond mop from his eyes, the wind was knocking it every which direction and basically making it an aggravation more than a hair style, he got a good look around. The lanterns were bobbing with the way the wind moved and people were walking with the easy freedom that small town life often gave one. That was one of the things he liked about the festival, everyone was so calm and there was so much happening. He knew his dad was probably heading home by now, having filled up on junk food and now probably groggy from walking. That was alright with him, he'd catch him later when he was ready to leave the lights and the laughter.

There was something genuinely pleasing about being surrounded in so much positive energy. Sliding his hands into his pockets, he moved through the people with easy steps and breathed in the air of cotton-candy and corn dogs. It reminded him of being younger somehow, made his mind pass over the hazy memories of his mother, a woman with soft blonde hair and pale blue eyes. A woman with a smile that his brain could never completely place because it had been overlapped so many times that now it could have been anyone's smile. He remembered her voice though, soft and beautiful, a laugh that he had inherited, a laugh that got too loud when in full force. However, he couldn't recall much else, she'd left when he was five with some sentiment that he couldn't quite remember. Though he could have sworn it had something to do with her not getting along with his father anymore which was what he had assumed.

He'd never once heard them fighting though, which was the oddest thing, he thought disagreements were settled through loud arguments and slamming doors but they had been quiet. He supposed maybe the silence had something to do with it. He had never really asked his father, it had taken the man years to get over it and sometimes he still seemed a little pressed. They never discussed anything deeper than the occasional query of "How are you feeling?", in which Austin usually replied that he was feeling fine and his dad usually replied that he was feeling fine. It was no fun to dwell on misgivings and the Jones family had taken that to heart. Living in the moment had become a motto of sorts and that's what Austin was good at, living in the moment. Basking in the sunlight and trying to work things out without stressing. That's what he was good at and he liked to make sure people knew that through his exuberance and brightness.

He made his way to the food and picked out a bag of popcorn, refocusing his thoughts to the task of eating as he looked around for something else that caught his attention.

"Does the broken beauty have a name? Or was that stolen along with your left eye?" rang out a voice bizarrely like the aether, its unusual accent prompting Jolyne to turn around to face a woman, seemingly in her twenties, with striking, mischievous blue eyes and contrasting pink hair. After the childhood incident in which she lost her eye, she would face plenty of idiots trying to start something with her. Nothing she wasn't able to handle of course, but this one... something was off about her, something foreboding and strange, as the air seemed to tighten around the girl.

"Oh, you're incredibly observant, aren't you. I'm really glad your pair works." she said with her arms folded, and a slight smile, still chewing her mint gum, to let the stranger know her little insult didn't affect her in anyway. Jolyne raised a curious eyebrow after noticing her odd style of fashion, noting the relatively dated clothing. "Back from a fancy dress party or something, darling?" she asked with a mocking smirk, with a slight undertone of curiousity. "Or was that all you could find?" She wasn't going to back down, not after she had been insulted by some random stranger

This was rather odd, A female erratically approaching her during a rather... extravagant festival. She usually got romantic attention from hopeless men and women hoping to score points with the blonde-haired beauty, despite her apparent lack of a left eye, but someone blatantly walking up and attempting to rile her panties into a bunch? No, that didn't happen quite as often. Jolyne finally dropped the Whack-A-Mole mallet she had been grasping between lithe fingers, the entertaining weapon falling against the complimentary Whack-A-Mole machine, before the young lady turned around fully to give the woman a more complete once-over. Like she had thought before, that... feeling around the woman was even more pronounced the more she focused, and, in spite of herself, Jolyne felt some inklings of caution and fear impaling her normal sense of casual arrogance and superiority. The one time she didn't have a mindless drone around to tend to her every needs, and she was met by a potentially dangerous individual. Just her luck. She wondered if her brother was having as much fun as she was.

Joseph Thawne
Festival
Tagged;; None

Joseph didn't really know what he was doing here, honestly. The festival hadn't really sounded like a very fun, amusing idea the first time he had read it in the daily newspaper, and it certainly didn't sound like a fun idea when Jolyne commented about going, yesterday. However, the festival would be filled with creeps, and Joseph didn't much trust the town's police force whenever it came to stopping some bastard from antagonizing his younger sibling. His over-protectiveness could be slightly overwhelming at times, but since he understood the term 'personal space' and 'chill', he never really bothered her whenever she was up to whatever she liked to do. More like, he'd be in the over-all area, doing something to pass the time whilst he waited for any signs of distress. This festival was a bit...thick, however, and he'd lost sight of Jolyne not too long after 'mingling' - which, for him, meant crossing his arms and waiting - with the crowd.

Usually, he'd trust the girl enough to handle his own business in the city, whilst she did whatever she wanted, but the festival was a special occasion, and he had to take time out of his schedule to handle it. Now, here he was, holding some giant piece of swirled, pink cotton candy that some mother gave him for winning her kid a prize at the water-gun-contest. Like Hell he was going to eat this sugary bullshit, mind the language. His sweet tooth had been removed a long time ago, and he much preferred spicy things. The scent drifted through his nostrils, and as he sat at a nearby hotdog stand, festival goers streaming by and by, the sound of 'oohing', and a rather obnoxious voice garnered his attention. Rather stubbornly, Joseph took a giant chunk out of the cotton candy treat, before focusing his attention on the crowd. People;; men, women, and children, surrounded a man in a pin-striped suit, standing over some device.

"Come one, come all, and try out the new and improved High Striker~!" The man yelled, his golden teeth glinting with his painful-looking grin, The High Striker was one of those strongman-testing games people usually tried, with varying results. Joseph could at least remember that bit, despite not having played too many games in his life. A large, sledge-hammer-like mallet leaned against the High Striker, seemingly rubber...or was that some other material? It shined, regardless. "For it's first challenger, I want someone strong! I want someone tough! I want..." The man's greedy eyes flickered back and forth through the crowd, obviously searching for someone large enough to give the tricked-out High Striker more publicity. Coincidentally enough, Joseph's dark, disinterested eyes met the man's at the exact moment he screamed that sentence. A sense of annoyance filled the young man. "Him! Come on up, youngster!"

Damn it.

The crowd cheered, making a path for the tall Joseph, and he entertained the thought of just ignoring them all and walking away, pronunciating this thought by taking another large chunk out of his cotton candy. However, a little kid ran from his mother and father, little hands wrapping around Joseph's much bigger wrist. "Come on mister, you can do it! My dad says that you're just a wuss!" Seeming unperturbed, despite his eyes narrowing at the now sweating, beer-bellied father, Joseph sighed mentally, standing up to his full height. Hands resting in his pockets, the young man walked through the crowd, stopping in front of the High Striker, and the man currently standing on the beefy machine. He glanced over the design - the machine itself was very, very tall, the top of the tower holding a vibrant, golden-collored bell. Joseph turned his intimidating eyes to the golden-toothed man. "The prize?" He asked simply, his deep voice seemingly snapping the man into his senses.

"Oh, yes!" The man reached back, and slid a table from behind his booth. On the table were a large assortment of stuffed toys and candid items, with a very large golden star on each one. The same kid that had so ignorantly 'betrayed' his dad seemed to beam. "I want that one!" The kid yelled, pointing at an overstuffed teddy bear. Joseph glanced back, an eyebrow slightly being arched, before he turned back to the machine. "Move." He said to the greedy man, whom leaped back, his grin now slightly malicious. It was quite obvious to Joseph, now, that this was some kind of hoax. What sort of hoax? He didn't really know...but he was going to break it. He was pretty good at breaking things.

Taking his hands from his pockets, Joseph grasped the large hammer/mallet with both hands, bringing it up to bear as if it weighed nothing. As the crowd held in their breath, the owner of the machine still giggling like a school girl, Joseph exhaled silently, before opening his eyes, bringing the hammer down with a deep grunt.



The sound of the High Striker's impact pad breaking down into itself ripped through the air, along with the sound of the wooden-stocked mallet breaking into splintering halves. The High Striker's tower began to glow a shining red, making incessant ringing noises as the light blasted upwards, almost instantly reaching the top. Once it reached the top, the golden bell began blaring at a very high volume, shaking like a twig in a tornado, before breaking off and slamming into the swindling owner's bald head, knocking the man, dazed, to the ground. Amongst the noise, Joseph grabbed the over-stuff, star-patterned bear, silently handing it to the staring little boy. With another disinterested, yet immensely intimidating glance towards the sweating, pot-bellied father, Joseph walked back over to his cotton candy, picked it up, and began heading towards another part of the carnival. He was getting pretty bored here.

"Yes, auntie," Victoria said quietly, picking her way across the street towards the glow of lanterns and the buzz of people. "Yes, I'm—no. Yes, I'm going to the festival. No, I didn't, you were asleep—yes, auntie. Yes. Auntie, alright, I'm going now—goodnight!" She hung up with a huff, sliding her phone into her pocket and hurrying forward. Her aunt was...eccentric. Nine times out of ten, she was passed out in her room and completely uninterested in what Victoria was doing; the one time she woke up, she was an overbearing freak.

Victoria had been hearing about the year's end festival all year—it would be her first, since she'd only recently moved to Teneber. She was excited, even if she'd gotten separated from her friends on her way in. Her knee high boots crunched over the gravel as she slipped into the thick of the festival. She wore a chunky, long knit sweater with large buttons dotting the front, open over a tight tank top and fitted skinny jeans. Her makeup had been carefully crafted to look soft and natural in the warm light of the lanterns, her eyebrows and lips darkened, hair wrapped up into an artfully messy bun. Her favorite gold jewelry flashed at her neck and ears. She had much flashier outfits in her closet, but she really just wanted to look pretty AND comfortable.

She nodded to those she knew as she passed—quite a few people, both from and not from school. She bypassed the carnival games—they were no fun playing solo, but maybe she'd find a partner later—and her eyes lit on the food from afar. Tossing a smile to a blonde boy picking out popcorn, she selected a caramel apple and paid quickly, settling quietly onto a stool, watching the crowd.

Her eyebrows raised at the shrieking noise that suddenly burst from the High Striker across the street. She smiled at the thought of it being broken on its first use, and her eyes caught the man responsible's. She raised her candy apple to him in a mocking toast as his gaze slid away. "You ever see a thing like that?" she laughed to no one in particular, voice holding an ever so slight London accent.

Tagged; @Dirty Dan

The loud noises that were likely from the festival outside his home woke Loki up, and his alarm soon sounded afterwards. He always woke up right before his alarm would go off, something that always confused Loki to a degree. Raising his arms to stretch, the crack of his stationary bones resounded throughout his body. Loki had decided to take a quick hour nap before the festival happened, as he was tired from college earlier in the morning.

"I wonder if this festival is as good as people claim." he said, outloud, to no one in particular, a smirk gradually forming on his face. "Eww you have that smile again Loki. It looks gross." his younger sister, Eris said with a teasing grin. "You only have that smile when you're up to no good." she continued, patting his back, whilst discretely placing a sticky note there. Loki hadn't noticed, "Right back at you Eris." he replied, ruffling and messing up her hair, before walking towards the red and flowery rigid door. The flowery and red pattern was another prank by his parents, though Loki didn't mind, he did like it after all.

He walked downstairs, the wood creaking at each step. The smell of roasting meat and melted cheese met Loki's nose, Ham and cheese? he thought to himself with a raised eyebrow. His Mother and Father, Joanne and Ryan respectively, were downstairs inside the kitchen. His father was reading the newspaper, and his mother was cooking a light meal. When he entered the kitchen, his parents greeted him and he sat down and began eating the warm, light meal his mother had prepared before going to the 'Teneber Festival.' Hastily eating the prepared food as he was somewhat excited at this anticipated festival, his father mockingly grinned and said "Slow down or you'll choke like you did a week ago." he chuckled before switching his gaze back to his newspaper and licking his finger to turn the page. "Dad, will you stop mentioning that? It hurts my feelings." he replied sarcastically.

The meal was rather good the cheese melted in his mouth and the meat was just right, his Mother was always a good cook. After eyeing that his meal was finished, his father got his wallet out and handed Loki a few ten dollars, about 70 dollars in total and his mother gave him 50, totalling to 120 dollars. "Use that to enjoy the festival, and don't spend it all on your fancy kid toys and dolls okay?" his mother teased, knowing that he liked collecting figurines and such. "Maybe I'll spend it on drugs this time. I heard the kids around this neighbourhood love 'em." he joked before getting up from his wooden seat. "Better than spending it on your girly toys, son." his father replied, not lifting his gaze from the ever so interesting newspaper. "Yeah yeah." he said, lifting his hands up in mock surrender.

Turning around from the kitchen, his parents eyed the sticky note and both donning the family grin, the mother began patting his back to keep the sticky note firmly on his back, while saying "Have fun." With a confused face and a raised eyebrow, he replies with "Sure, thanks." The creak of the floorboards could not be heard over the loudness of the festival, and stepping into the hallway, stepping outside he noted that it was warm yet there was a layer of frost covering the floor. So he decided against wearing a jacket, only taking his maroon beanie and placing it over his head.

Even though it was warm, his breath was still visible. Something that confused Loki, but didn't bother him too much. As he approached the festival, which was relatively close, the strong smell of alcohol hit his nose. The pathways were beautiful, lined up with decorative lanterns that were visually pleasing to the eyes. Eyeing left was an alley, with two people and from the looks of it, the man harrasing a woman. Switching his direction towards the alleyway, he quickened his pace and grabbed the arm of the rather odor-filled man. He smelled of pure alcohol, and his clothes smothered in what looks to be puke, atleast Loki hoped. "Hey hey, it's a festival, don't go around harrasing females." he said coldy, in contrast to his usual tone. Glanving the female who looked distraught yet relieved that someone came to help "Go." and with one word she took off. The man got freed from his grip, and with a "Fuck off, Greenie." he swung horizontally towards Loki. He simply stepped backwards to avoid the rather frail swing, and lunged forward digging his knee deep into the mans abdomen. "Now go to sleep for now, don't harass women while you're intoxicated." he said darkly, in contrast to his eerie smile before the drunk closed his eyes with fear.

Leaving the drunk in his own piss and grime, Loki walked off, cracking his left arm and began walking on the pathway again to the busy festival. The amount of drunken teenagers and children unattended increased with each step. Hearing a large 'DING' or, well 'Crack' his eyes snapped to an attraction, the 'High Striker' as the sign said. Seeing a rather bulky teenager basically breaking the attraction in pieces. Loki chuckled to himself, to see the owner's face distort from greed to utter surprise in quick succession. The teenager then began collecting his prize and handing it to a kid, "How nice of you." he said to the bulky teenager patting his back, in mock salutations, though his real purpose was to carefully place a sticky note as he was passing by, "Well I'll leave you to your devices now, O strong man." he finished and flashed a mock salutate before leaving. As he was walking away, he hastened his pace, as the strong teenager might notice and subtle disappeared into the crowd of drunken men and women. After his exchange he began looking towards the other attractions filled to the brim with teenagers and adults alike, mostly drunk. "Such a lively atmosphere."

Tagged: @Larfleeze

"I doubt you'll find a pair that works better." Ysabella retorted blankly, as if she were only stating a fact of life. The human child's response was well timed and thought out for someone of their intelligence, a girl obviously used to holding her own in a verbal battle. Looking over the girl, Ysabella determined that the loss of the girl's eye was the result of a fight rather than a genetic mishap or infection. Pleased by this fact, the young woman subtly shifted her weight onto her right hip and folded her left arm across her chest. Resting her right elbow on the back of her left hand, Ysabella brushed the underside of her jawline with her fingertip while staring down the human girl. "Well, you're not completely wrong. It was all I could find... Then again I only stock my wardrobe with the finest of materials. I'm quite picky in my expensive tastes." Ysabella made it obvious that she was looking over the girl's outfit, turning her nose ever so slightly into the air like a spoiled brat. "Which is more than I can say for you. Can't you afford anything more decent than a few dirty rags? This is a festival after all, you should be more respectful in your appearance."

Ysabella ran the back of her right hand through her hair, flipping the long locks behind her shoulder. Everything about her was light, even her hair seemed to float unnaturally in the breeze as it settled behind her back. Despite their stand off, the crowd seemed to part around the pair like water, unconcerned by the tension in the air around them. In fact, it were almost as if they weren't even there. Eyes seemed to slide right over the young women, their bodies naturally sidestepping to avoid collision. The lack of observation, however, was undetectable if you didn't know what to look for. To a human eye it would only appear as if no one cared what happened between them. It was a festival after all, there were much better things to do than to get involved with a fight. While the effect wasn't absolute, Ysabella's trick was effecting the crowd perfectly, almost assuring no interruptions between her and her new found prey.

"Now, rude little child... I'll ask you one more time, and this time around I expect an proper answer. What is your name?" Ysabella's expression hadn't changed, but the aura around her seemed to thicken, delivering her aggression without so much as a hint to the mysterious woman's power. One way or another she would receive the desired effect, get the girl's blood pumping fast enough to make the meal worth the chase. To add emphasis, Ysabella made eye contact with the girl, changing her perception of the world only slightly. To the human's eye, it would look as if a cloud passed over the moon, blocking it out and leaving the pair in the artificial light of the lanterns.

Tagged: @corrosive

God, the festival was crowded. Riley winced to herself as she shouldered through throngs of people with cups of beer, candy apples, cotton candy in hand. She almost elbowed a youth in the face, and, surprised, he spilt his drink into the grass. The rising liquor fumes wrinkled Riley's nose, and he turned bright red, dashing away before the girl who had just bumped into him could be a grasser. Riley watched his back disappear into the night, and noted with frowning disapproval how unsteady his steps were. This one had better not try crossing the road tonight, she thought walking on, her ponytail bouncing behind her with every jaunty step.

Riley looked around, her eyes lighting on the strange outfits she saw before her. Oh, there were sanely-dressed people like her as well, kindred spirits in jeans and a top - in Riley's case, a nondescript blue blouse - but the costumes that some people had on made it difficult to distinguish the attendants from the carnival-masters. Stripes and polka-dots and frills made Riley feel under-dressed, and yet too formal. In a town where she knew no one, she was certainly out-of-place at a community function, a sore, prominent thumb.

If there was one consolation, it was the free food. She walked up to the refreshments stall and plucked what she guessed to be a bag of chips from the spread of snacks. There was a figure standing to the side, who had been casting glances around and looked as aimless as Riley felt. She slipped into place beside him, and leant back against the edge of the stall, tearing the pack open. "You look like you could use some company," she said conversationally, her tongue rolling and packaging her words into a drawl, while she popped a crisp into her mouth. As she crunched down on it, she took a better look at who she was speaking to. Riley glanced up at the blue-eyed blonde boy with his bag of popcorn, and then resumed peering around the festival, swallowing the mush of potato chip.

"I'm Riley," she said, twisting her torso sideways to offer her hand to the boy. "And you are?"

Tagged; @Mivuli

Austin had been standing aimlessly around and that was the worst part, he'd just been picking at the popcorn and staring blankly into the distance. Such staring was only once interrupted by the smile of a pretty blonde, whom he had offered a wave to in turn. It wasn't normal for Austin to ignore anyone and he had considered settling near her to try to start a conversation but had ended up being further distracted by the careening noise of one of the machines. He'd looked around the corner to spot the culprit, a brawny boy with a green-eyed trickster slapping none other than a "kick me" sign on his back. He'd squinted for a moment before shrugging it off and leaning back, jumping at the sound of another voice and trying not to assume it had anything to do with him.

His nervousness was from the way his thoughts seemed to be turning right now. He guessed that maybe coming to the festival hadn't been his best idea but he couldn't very well leave right now. He wasn't sure why the place had his mind wandering to his mother, the woman was nothing but a ghost to his life. A legend that his father was far too obsessed with. Just a woman with very fine blonde hair and very pale blue eyes, she didn't even have a personality as far as he knew. She could have been a mass serial killer and it wouldn't have made any difference to him. He was willing to blame the nostalgia but he pushed it off, the voice was speaking to him.

He turned to face the girl who had addressed him and nervously smoothed the cuffs on his plaid shirt before glancing up to her and smiling. He had a good smile, there was something honest about it, it just always seemed very genuine. He wasn't generally a bad looking kid, cute, certainly not stunning but just sort of average with blond hair that was getting on the longish side, in need of a trim and pale blue eyes just like his mother. Average and honest were good words for him. He wasn't looking to impress and maybe that was one of his best qualities.

She was definitely a sight with fiery hair and she seemed friendly enough which was good because he tended to clash with people who weren't. Shaking her hand with vigor calmed his nervous tension long enough that he felt good in replying.

"Austin Jones," he said warmly, "It's nice to meet you, Riley. Are you from around here? I don't think I've seen you before but all be damned if I knew everyone."

Tagged: @WeepingLiberty

"Which is more than I can say for you. Can't you afford anything more decent than a few dirty rags? This is a festival after all, you should be more respectful in your appearance." Jolyne laughed off her remark with good humor. "Oh that's cute, real cute. You're hilarious, has anyone ever told you that?" by now the flavour of her gum had gone stale but she kept on chewing regardless. "Y'know if this is your idea of flirting, you're not very good at it."

"Now, rude little child... I'll ask you one more time, and this time around I expect an proper answer. What is your name?" Jolyne suddenly stopped chewing, giving the stranger a cold, hard stare. Who the hell talks like that? Even though this town was clearly old fashioned, she had never heard someone who looks about twenty speak like that. In an instant, she locked eyes with the stranger, and the world seemed somewhat darker, eerily the only light source appeared to be the glowing lanterns that were hung around the town. Attempting to stay calm, she simply sighed, "Well, since it is the festival, I think I'll be nice for a change and tell you." "My name's Jolyne. I just wanna go and enjoy the festival, if that's alright with you?" she snapped before turning away from the pink headed figure. Jolyne desperately wanted to get away from this eccentric, something about her seemed incredibly off. She turned back and asked "Why do you even want to know that, are you trying to take some sort of survey or something?" If this was the case, then Jolyne knew the woman was the creepiest survey taker she had ever met.

Tagged: @Larfleeze

Ysabella decided not to respond to the girl's comment, not finding a retort worth the effort. Instead she continued to stare at the human child with her judging gaze, the hint of smile playing at the corners of her lips. "Does it seem like I'm being flirtatious?" She chuckled sarcastically, allowing the smile to infect the rest of her facial features. "If that's the case, there's no reason for you to be nervous around me. You're a little too young for me anyway." Ysabella shrugged again, relaxing her stance and dropping her arms to her sides. It appeared that her subtle tricks were working as intended, the sound of the girl's beating heart falling on her ears like music. As a pure blooded vampire, Ysabella's presence alone was often enough to make people nervous, but it wasn't any fun if that's all it took. Because of this, Ysabella often had to keep her aura under control so that she could toy with her prey the way she liked. With this particular girl, however, Ysabella didn't have to reign it in quite so much seeing as the child was naturally strong willed.

Having finally touched the right nerve with the girl, Ysabella was finally graced with the name she had sought after. Not that Jolyne was planning to stay much longer after spitting it out at her, but the small victory was all it took to finally break Ysabella's façade. As Jolyne turned away Ysabella's own smile darkened like the world around them, the pupils of her eyes distorting into hungry slits. Laughing to herself at Jolyne's question Ysabella shrugged as she rolled her neck, listening to every individual pop of the vertebrae. "A survey? You could say it was something like that, yes." Ysabella responded, completely closing the distance between her and Jolyne. She bent forward so that her face was just a couple of inches away from the human girl's, taking her jaw between her thumb and index finger so that Jolyne was forced to notice the unnatural shift in her predatory eyes. "You see, it tends to freak the prey out when you say their name. So what do you think? Jo-lyne." Ysabella cooed, emphasizing each syllable separately to drive her point home.

Tagged: @WeepingLiberty

After Jolyne had asked her little question, the pink haired woman suddenly started laughing at her, seemingly as if she had said the funniest joke in the world. Jolyne was about to ask her what was so hilarious when she noticed the woman started to crack her neck in such a way like she was getting ready for a fight, and wanted to intimidate her opponent. As if Jolyne would be intimidated by something so basic.

"A survey? You could say it was something like that, yes." the woman finally answered, albeit vaguely. Before Jolyne could even blink, she was startled by the speed at which the stranger moved, their faces almost touching. She felt an icy pressure on her chin, preventing her head from moving. Jolyne looked into her eyes, noticing the unnatural shape of her irises. Had they always been like that? She just wanted to turn and run, but something kept her frozen to the spot, whether it was from stubbornness or fear she couldn't tell.

"You see, it tends to freak the prey out when you say their name. So what do you think? Jo-lyne." the woman whispered gently like a breeze, sending shivers down Jolyne's spine. "P-Prey?" she said absentmindedly, in a hushed whisper. Her calm demeanour suddenly dissipated and her mind began racing. With the movements of her arms, and legs still unimpeded, she could easily strike her assailant in the face and break free. Clenching her fist tightly, she attempted to extend her arm without warning, straight into her pale nose.
Jolyne wasn't going to be killed, leaving her brother on his own, and more importantly, she certainly wasn't going down to some two-bit psycho.

Tagged: @Larfleeze

Ysabella's eyes narrowed as she smiled, finding victory in the rapid increase of Jolyne's pulse. She didn't care which emotion it belonged too, all she knew is that she had her right where she wanted her: frozen in place within her grasp... That was until she wasn't. The vampire had known from the start that this child had some fight to her, but the fact that even through all of the fear she was still able to react the way that she did, it took her by surprise. The force of Jolyne's fist against her face was enough to knock the woman back a few steps, her back arched slightly as she stared at the sky in shock. Slowly she righted her posture, brushing her nose gingerly with the tips of her fingers. "You should be a little more careful... You could have seriously hurt me, Jolyne." Ysabella laughed mockingly, having felt minimal pain from a strike designed to knock out an opponent.

"That's good though, you still have some fight in you. I was getting worried that you weren't as much fun as I originally thought." The woman inhaled calmly as she fixated her gaze on the human before her, feeling her own heart beat with the excitement of a chase. Ysabella wore a smile unlike any of the ones she had during the conversation with Jolyne, predatory in nature but in no way natural in the eyes of a human. The illusion she had placed over the appearance of her teeth had faded now that Jolyne was becoming aware of the oddness of her being. Two sharp fangs made became visible as she stared at the child lustfully, the blood in her veins calling to satiate the thirst that had been building up for weeks. Ysabella disappeared from Jolyne's view only to reappear behind the human, pressing her back lightly into the girl's. "Despite your lack of manners, I'm feeling rather generous today. You can have a ten second head start, do with it as you will." Ysabella's voice remained light and airy as she taunted the child, watching the human out of the corner of her eye. "10...9...8..." She hoped that Jolyne would turn and run, but that would also have been the predictable thing to do. Fighting was a hopeless option but ten seconds of pummeling on a "defenseless" target was also too good to pass up. Either way the game had begun, all Jolyne had to do was choose how it was going to end.

Tagged: @corrosive

The boy seemed preoccupied for a few moments, lost in his own thoughts, before something shook him from his reverie and he turned to Riley. Riley peered at him closely, holding his eyes fearlessly in a manner that might have been deemed rude by some but was perfectly acceptable to her. It was just eye contact after all, and there oughtn't be anything to fear of it. Restlessly adjusting minor details of his attire, he appeared fidgety and anxious, before he turned a charming smile on her. Riley continued to critically gaze at his features, deciding that those pale eyes could be arresting if his stare were bold. But she'd concede: he had a good set of pearly-whites.

A firm and affirming handshake he had as well, and - introducing himself as Austin Jones - he asked of Riley's background. "Oh, yes," Riley said, tucking her hand away into one of her pockets. "But it was a recent move, and I don't get out much, so it wouldn't be entirely strange if I don't stand out in your mind." She cast an inquistive stare around, seeking amidst the crowd nearby lingering parents, or perhaps a willowy girl that might be storming over to establish herself as a claimant to the blonde boy. "Are you here with anyone? Wouldn't want to keep you from them."

Tagged: @WeepingLiberty

Jolyne grinned as she believed her punch went through, the force causing the woman to back off somewhat. Her smile faded when she realised what had actually happened. That punch should have at least bloodied her nose, if not cleanly knocking her out, but it appeared that Jolyne's punch had barely even effected her. The woman burst out laughing again, infuriating Jolyne further, prompting her to slowly grind her teeth.

The woman breathed in composedly, before grinning like a Cheshire Cat, revealing a pair of unnaturally long, white incisors that almost seemed to scintillate in the moonlight. Jolyne's eye widened in horror as she finally realised what the stranger was, even more so when she disappeared from her line of sight. She then detected a gentle pressure on her back, the woman reappearing with her back pushed against Jolyne's.

"Despite your lack of manners, I'm feeling rather generous today. You can have a ten second head start, do with it as you will." She stated nonchalantly as she began counting down. Regardless of the stranger's apparent fictitious status, did she really expect Jolyne Thawne to run? That made her laugh somewhat, albeit tremendously apprehensively. Never since the incident in which she lost her left eye had she ran from someone, that individual traumatic moment in her childhood put an end to that.

Since she obviously wasn't going to run, her only other opinion was to strike her again. Having already went for the face, this time Jolyne aimed her second punch directly into the woman's stomach, desperately hoping that her punch would wind her enough.

Tagged: @Larfleeze

Ysabella chuckled silently to herself as her eyes slid shut, the force of Jolyne's blows rocking her body like before. Now that the human had figured out what she was, the punches were falling more strategic and much harder than before. Each one that drove into her gut actually came close to causing real pain, impressive for a human female in a vampire's eyes. While the attack didn't hurt, it didn't leave Ysabella completely unscathed, the woman loosing her breath somewhere around "4" in her countdown. "3...2..." Ysabella's body shook with a mighty cough, the woman coughing up a fair amount of her own blood onto the ground as she did so.

Inhaling deeply through her nose, Ysabella righted her posture and straightened out her outfit. Finally open, her cold eyes fell upon the girl hungrily. "1... Time's up." Catching Jolyne's wrist she yanked her forward harshly, Ysabella held her arm stretched out as she caught the small of the girl's back with her free hand. "I'm not particularly fond of tasting my own blood... You'll need to make up for all the damage you've caused." She hissed in Jolyne's ear before sinking her teeth into the soft flesh of her neck, shuddering as the sweet taste of blood danced across her tongue. It had been months since Ysabella had hunted last, suriving off of small tastes here and there on her journey "home".

The bliss Ysabella felt in consuming fresh blood almost changed her mind about her plans for the evening, her thoughts wavering as the delicious scent rose about them. After a few moments Ysabella finally lifted her head for air, still holding Jolyne close to her. "What a shame I can't completely drain you... But rest assured, I've got better things planned for you." She sighed, sounding disappointed but firm in her statement. "But before I go, I think I'll have another bite." Ysabella smiled softly to herself as she leaned in for another drink, already thinking ahead to the hell this girl was about to go through. Not everyone who came into contact with Ysabella's fangs turned into a vampire themselves, she had to want them to. She wasn't quite sure how it worked, but it seemed she had some willpower over the transformation (or infection as humans chose to see it). Thus she only had to decide to turn someone for it to happen, but even that didn't guarantee success, especially if a target were older. Teenagers tended to be the prime age group for a successful transformation, hence why she was picking on a girl who looked young enough to still be in high school.

Pulling away to face Jolyne, Ysabella held up the girl's weight with ease, leaning far enough back so that she could look into her eye with ease. "Are you still with me Jolyne? How are you feeling?" She asked, only somewhat sincere in her question. Ysabella honestly wanted to know how the girl felt, but it wasn't as if she truly cared for her safety... After all she had just attacked and decided to turn the girl into a being just like her.

Jolyne wanted to scream, fight back again, anything, but the pain was too intense. Her mind flashed back to that event in her childhood, the agony of that stick ripping through her eye socket. As she felt her blood drain away from her neck, her mind began to fade away into a state of unconsciousness, so much so that Jolyne was unable to hear the soft words that her assailant was saying in between eager drinks. She was on the verge of unconsciousness, about to slip away, before the shock of being drained a second time snapped her awake once more.

After the inhuman creature of a woman had drank her fill, she pulled back and stared straight into Jolyne's eyes. "Are you still with me Jolyne? How are you feeling?" she asked without a hint of irony. "Ha, you-you're not serious, right?" Jolyne murmured through a simper. She would have burst out laughing if not for the fact she had two neat puncture wounds in her neck. The literal pain in her neck was beginning to numb somewhat already. "Oh, so, you do care." Jolyne said sarcastically. "I hope you fall on a stake." she remarked through gritted teeth.

Tagged: @Larfleeze;@Dirty Dan

"Half-dead, face to face with a fictitious monster and you decide to throw attitude at it. Your manners are appalling but your spirit praiseworthy. I do hope you live long enough to spar with me again. Our interaction was rather amusing." Ysabella brushed a few loose strands of hair out of Jolyne's face, still maintaining her gaze. The festival was continuing on around them, though the sound had faded a bit in Ysabella's ears, her focus so great on the human girl before her. Now that she had finished with Jolyne, Ysabella could continue her hunt to find others to turn. The night was still rather young, she wasn't going to let the perfect opportunity go to waste. "Well my dear, I have other business to attend to. You should sit tight and rest up for a while. I'll send someone with a cookie for you or something." She dropped the girl haphazardly on the ground beside the road where she wouldn't get stepped on by the clueless crowd. "Good luck Jolyne. Oh, I almost forgot..." Ysabella knelt down in front of Jolyne, a stern look upon her face. "You're not going to tell anyone the truth about what happened here, or that you even saw me. Got it?" She waited for some type of confirmation of a successful compulsion before disappearing back into the crowd, abandoning Jolyne to fend for herself.

Pushing thoughts of Jolyne to the back of her mind, Ysabella wove through the crowd like a phantom. Keeping her nose to the air and eyes peeled, the woman waited for someone else to stand out to her... Something that only took a few moments. The sight of a broken attraction caught Ysabella's attention, the woman pausing to stare at the wreckage. There was something familiar about the scent in the air, a feeling that excited the vampire tremendously. "You might still be useful yet, Jolyne." She cooed to herself, turning on her toes to follow the scent. Ysabella couldn't be sure until she caught up with the source, but it was similar enough to Jolyne's scent that it gave her hope. An easy capture if this particular character cared at all for the girl she had abandoned on the side of the road. The search took longer than she had expected, the man wandering from place to place at a fairly decent speed, not staying long in any one area. Despite the randomness in his adventure, Ysabella finally caught sight of the source of the scent she had been following. A large guy, undoubtedly as strong as he looked judging from the state of the carnival game a while back. Looking at him, he didn't look exactly like Jolyne, but the similarities where enough that she was willing to try her luck and see where it got her.

Taking a deep breath, Ysabella tousled her hair and let the tears start flowing. Once she was sure she looked as scared and pathetic as possible, Ysabella ran towards her next target. Latching onto his arm carefully, she looked up at him, noting the huge height difference between them. Tears streaming down her face, Ysabella breathed unevenly as if she had been running a lot longer than a couple of seconds. "P-please, you have to help her. They came out of nowhere, I d-didn't know w-what to do." Allowing her legs to buckle beneath her, Ysabella's body shook with her fake fear.

Joseph Thawne
Tagged;; Ysabella Mei

As Joseph wandered aimlessly through the crowd of carnival-goers, his hands resting in the pockets of his pants, and his striking, crystal blue eyes gazing ahead of the men and women coolly, the man went over the events, so far, in his head;; something he often did to sort and organize his thoughts. He had entered the carnival, bought an arguably delicious stick of cotton candy, was forced by a boy to smash a faux High Striker machine, gave the same little boy a giant bear from the con-man that ran the faux High Striker machine, and then decided to walk through the festival until the damn thing ended. Jolene was most-likely scamming a bunch of no good thugs into doing her bidding, but regardless, as long as she didn't hurt any innocents, he didn't really care. The girl was old enough to make her own decisions, and although he would stop her from doing anything morally disgusting and/or bad, she was free to live her own life. He had things of his own to take care of. What were those things? Eh...he didn't know, honestly. He had quite a few jobs, and he spent a lot of his time beating up different gangs within the city, so that was a thing.

As he walked passed two giggling school girls - both of whom blushed and giggled even more when his eyes glanced down at their forms - the sound of dashing footsteps caught his attention. A woman - sobbing, make-up smeared, and rough-looking - ran up to him, immediately lashing onto his right bicep. Joseph, on the other hand, didn't even appear startled, pausing in his walking to give the girl his attention, the tip of his hat shadowing his face. "P-please, you have to help her. They came out of nowhere, I d-didn't know w-what to do." That immediately answered any doubts and questions. There was only one girl related to him, and only one girl that would call on him whenever they were in trouble, albeit stubbornly, and that was Jolene...his little sister. Joseph's face didn't change much out of it's stoic, disinterested frown, but you could tell that he was paying all of his attention to the woman. His eyes grew sharper, and almost into a glare, that would break even the toughest of men. His broad shoulders tensed, as he turned his body to the woman, taking his hands out of his pockets. Idly, he cracked the knuckles, the loud, almost brutal sound cracking through the crowd, making some men wince.

"Where are they?" He asked shortly. His deep, low voice, despite holding no extreme emotion, had a razor-sharp edge to it, his crystal eyes practically melting into Ysabella's face.